Finding Hampshire
by Phantom-Cosplayer
Summary: W/ a love triangle turned into a square that's not really a square, sweet & innocent New Hampshire is playing games that aren't so innocent & she's chasing a mystery that's already gotten people killed. Having been getting herself into trouble since before she could tie her own shoes Diana should be used to this, but w/ the Reds and Blues chasing her down all is not as it should be
1. Ch 1

**Trigger warning as usual, by this point y'all should know the drill. Welcome back everyone.**

* * *

"It's from Hargrove." Carolina answered, feeling suspicious. "He wants to give us a medal for taking care of the director."

"Who the fuck is that?" Grif responded, crossing his chubby arms.

 **"He's the oversight sub-committee chairman of the UNSC."** Church responded bitterly. **"He's also the CEO of Charon Industries."**

"And why do we want this medal?" Simmons asked, not looking up from his book.

"Yeah, I thought we were supposed to be searching for Newbie, if we stop now we'll never find her." Tucker butted in.

"We're never going to find her anyway, her distress beacon went dead weeks ago and we've just been going in the same direction since then. She might not even be going this way." Wash shook his head, running his fingers through his spiky blonde hair. "I spent years searching for her and found nothing, North and I both did. She's either been captured again or she's dead, and if she is alive, we won't like what we find, even if we do somehow manage to pull off a miracle."

"Wash, come on now. You can't be giving up that easily, we'll find her. We always do." Carolina soothed, she was worried about the dead trail they'd been trying to revive too, but she knew sooner or later, her sister would show up.

 **"Now come on, we might be able to get some resources out of that Hargrove guy while we're there. Plus he said something about flying us home. Perhaps we can hijack the ship and crew, use them to help find her."** Church added encouragingly.

* * *

"Nice." Felix commented, looking his new partner up and down. "The purple was a nice touch."

Diana was dressed head to toe in black armour, in a suit that was very similar to Felix's in shape and form. She'd painted a deep purple stipe across the slight pyramid on her chest plate to pay homage to her fallen lover, but the rest of her stood in the solid black that the space pirates wore. A name she'd laughed at many times before now.

"Thanks." She grinned, taking off her helmet and shaking out her long blond hair. "Now, how about we go back to your room and you help me take it off?" She winked at him flirtatiously and left the workshop, heading down the now familiar corridors to her new lover's room. Felix strode along behind her, a few steps behind as he admired the way her armour made her ass look.

Sometimes she felt guilty, having started something with Tucker and now being in a relationship with Felix, but she really had no choice. If she wanted out of this, she had to get close to him. She also felt a great deal of guilt knowing she was going to crush Felix when she left, but she knew she had to. She still had to find out what North was chasing and with the company the ship now held, she was much safer off of it.

Felix had given her a spare key to his room and she let herself in, placing her helmet on his desk and starting to undo her arm plates. She tugged off her gloves and hand armour, careful with the pieces as she placed them beside her. He walked in a few moments after her and took off his own helmet, quickly taking his arm plates off, ripping his leg armour off and then released his ever tightening codpiece. She removed her armoured boots and went to her chest plate but had her hands slapped away. Felix removed the last of his torso armour and then moved to pin his lover to the desk.

He pressed sensual kisses to her neck and cheeks before moving to remove her chest plate, hands immediately moving to fondle her breasts over the tight suit. He unzipped the fabric, pulling it over her shoulders and moved to remove other pieces. He lifted her up, placing her ass down on the desk and knelt at her feet. He spread her legs and slowly removed her shin plates, sliding his hands up her legs and removing her thigh pieces. He pressed chaste kisses to her thighs before standing up to remove her codpiece.

He scooped her up again, carrying her over to the bed, hands massaging her ass and dropped her down onto the bed. He unzipped his own under armour suit and tossed it off completely behind him. He swung a leg over her slender form and knelt over her in just his briefs and a wife-beater. He pulled her up slightly and slid her suit off completely, slowly dragging his hands down her body, squeeing her ass and throwing the suit behind him. He looked down at her form appreciatively and then smirked.

"Oh nice." He purred, spotting the grey bra and panties embellished with orange lace. He leaned down to kiss her neck sensually and slid his hand down her side, lifting her leg up to meet his waist and holding on sightly to her thigh. She shifted under him to bring her hands up, knotting them in his hair. His other hand slid up under one of her cups and fondled her soft breast, thumb circling her nipple.

"Are you teasing me, huh?" He asked after she had brought her hips up to meet his and was moving against his clothed member. He shifted her slightly to the side and gave her ass cheek a light smack and bit her lip gently, playing slightly rough. "Don't be a bad girl, Diana."

"What are you gonna do if I am?" She breathed into his neck, tugging his singlet over his head.

"Oh I think you know." He smirked. He reached behind her and unclasped her bra, head coming down to her breasts and sucking on her nipples.

She let out a moan and arched up towards his assaulting mouth. Diana wrapped a leg around his waist and gripped the orange tips of his brown hair. She felt his lip ring slide by her nipple as he sucked on the tender area and she moaned more.

"You wanna try something new?" He asked her seriously, leaning back away from her slightly.

"What'd you have in mind?" She asked, also sitting up, suddenly nervous.

"Nothing crazy, I just know you've had trouble with previous partners getting to certain points in your relationship. And well, I was hoping we could try out some of the things you struggled with. I know you get flash backs to those awful moments and I'm thinking we make new memories for you to look back to. We can drive away all those bad times," He explained, making all of no sense.

"So...?" She asked, wanting to know what he actually meant by that.

"Well, I was thinking about going down on you," He explained.

"O-oh," she stuttered.

"We don't have to if you don't want," he jumped in quickly.

"N-no," she cut him off. "That's not it, I just, I just don't want you to do anything like that because you feel like you should. I'm quite happy to keep up what we're currently doing."

"Diana, you know me well enough to know I don't do things I don't want to," he laughed. "I want to do this because I care about you and I want you to feel good. I want you to feel safe and completely comfortable with me, I'm you boyfriend."

"I do trust you, I know it's been years, and maybe holding onto the memories and avoiding these activities is why I haven't fully moved on, I don't know," she replied. "Let's try it, I lo- I care about you too."

"We can stop at any time, you know that, right?" Felix asked and she nodded. She leaned up to kiss him one last time and he cupped her face gently, missing her with passion. "I love you," he breathed and her heart fluttered.

He kissed a trail down her body, over her breasts, down her stomach and on each hip. He slid between each thigh, one knee over each shoulder and pressed kisses up her legs. He leaned up and gripped the fabric of her panties between his teeth and dragged them down, teeth brushing against her skin and she gasped, skin feeling like it was on fire.

He kissed her soft mound gently, warming her up for his touch down there. He spread her folds with his tongue and lubricated her already wet entrance, sweeping the moisture up to her sensitive little bud. He swirled around her clit and she gasped, loving the feeling of him down there. His gentle touch was nothing like the way her captor had roughly swiped away at her, forcing his tongue and fingers into places she didn't want them. She shuddered, thinking of his bulky form, thinking of how he hurt her.

Felix slid a finger into her entrance as he continued to swirl around her bud with his tongue making her gasp, but in a different way than she had before. He pulled his head back and looked up at her from between her legs.

"Diana," he started, trying to grab her attention. "Diana, look at _me_ , pay attention to _me_ ," she looked down at him between her thighs and nodded.

"Okay," she breathed.

"I'm the only one here, he's not and he's never going to be here again. He can't hurt you, he's gone. I'm here," he told her bluntly, kissing her thigh gently and affectionally before reaching up with his free hand to grip hers. "Focus on _me_ , on what _I'm_ doing. Only think of _me_ , think about how good _I_ make you feel, don't think about anything else but _me_ , nothing but _us_."

She nodded and he tentatively went back to behind right up in her mound, sliding his tongue gently around and wiggling his finger inside of her. He inserted another finger after a while, continuing to make the come hither motion he had been. He looked up at her and met her gaze.

"I love you," she breathed, throwing her head back as he sucked down on her clit.

He moved his fingers quicker and licked more, sucking and nipping down between her thighs and he felt her leg muscles tighten as they lay draped over his shoulders. She gripped at his hair as her legs started to shake and she arched her back, leaning up towards him, moaning louder than she ever had before for him, or anyone for that matter, and came in waves into his mouth. She let out a strangled cry and he lapped up her juices, continuing to move his fingers while she rode out her orgasm.

When she was done he came up to meet her and kissed her forehead gently. He cradled her in his arms and breathed in the scent of her soft hair. He ran his hinds gently over her toned skin and hold her tightly, whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

"I love you," he breathed, kissing her neck gently.

"Felix, I," she started. "That was amazing," she said after a moment.

"Well I have had a fair bit of practice," he bragged and she smacked his arm lightly. "Ow!"

"Shut up, I meant, well okay you did yourself justice, but I meant," she babbled.

"I know," he responded, running his hands up and down her arms.

"You know I always trusted you right?" She asked and he nodded. "But you've done what nobody else has managed to, Felix, I do love you. You're.."

"Shh," he cut her off. "You must be tired, get some sleep."

"But we never, Felix, you never got anything out of this," Diana argued.

"How thoughtful," he laughed. "Diana, we have all the time in the world, they'll be other times, we have to take baby steps."

"Are you sure?" She responded, feeling fatigued but wanting to fulfil her lover.

"I'm sure," he kissed the top of her head again and pulled the blankets up over them.

* * *

 **Felix you bastard.**

 **Authors note:**

 **Hey guys, welcome back, hope you've enjoyed the latest chapter. The direction Felix and New Hampshire's relationship is going to go was inspired by something Felix said in the Chorus Trilogy. This fic is a love triangle turned into a square that's not really a square, innocent little Newbie playing games that aren't so innocent and chasing a mystery that's already gotten several people killed.**

 **Hope you enjoy it, it's lovely to see you all back.**


	2. Ch 2

"Morning," Felix breathed in her ear as she stirred. Newbie lifted her face up to his own and placed a kiss to his lips.

"Morning," she responded, kissing him again, more aggressively.

"Keep that up and.." Felix started and she cut him off with an I know.

"Unless you don't want to," she smirked at him, kissing across his jaw.

"What's got into you?" He smiled, running his fingers through her hair.

"You did, last night," she returned, kissing him over and over. "You're so sweet."

"You know you don't have to return the favour, I did it because I wanted to," he stroked her hair, running his other hand up and down her side.

"I know, I want to, I love you," she proclaimed. "You're a real turn on," she giggled.

"Diana, please, I have enough trouble getting my head through the door as is, I don't need you inflating my ego any further," he joked. "Although your flattery will be rewarded," he smirked.

"Oh yeah?" She raised a brow and he rolled them over so she was laying on her back and he was laying propped up in between her legs.

"Yeah," he replied, kissing down her soft body, still naked from the night before.

He pressed gentle kisses to her inner thighs, looking up at her one last time before going for gold and bringing his lips to her mound. He slid his tongue in between her folds and brought a hand up between her thighs. She brought her hands and slid her fingers through his hair, gripping it tight as he made her moan. She tried to do as she had last night and only think of Felix and how he was making her feel. She might have healed enough to have had sex with her previous partners like North and Tucker but this whole department was new.

She let out a gasp as he sucked on her sensitive bud, making come hither motions inside of her. His movements got faster and her muscles clamped around his fingers, legs shaking and she thew her head back. She rocked forwards towards his assaulting mouth and cried out.

"Felix!" She arched her back and he worked her through her orgasm.

He kissed his way back up her body and to her mouth where he was greeted with fire and passion from his lover. She wrapped a leg around his waist and kissed him with ferocity he'd never seen from her before, and he _liked_ it. She bit at his lip experimentally and he chuckled in response, sliding a hand down to squeeze her ass.

"Feisty girl," he growled appreciatively in her kissed and massaged her breasts.

She brought her hands down to his boxers and played with the waistband, sliding her hands inside and cupping his more than awake member. He moaned and she slid his boxers down his ass, giving it a squeeze as she pulled them off. She ran her hand along his member, circling it and pulling her arm back and forward along it. He pulled her hands away from his body, pinning them above her head and kissed her feverishly, pecking down her jaw and neck, picking up a nipple in his mouth.

She let out a gasp and squirmed beneath him and he chuckled, smirking at how he was undoing her. He let go of her wrists and spread her legs apart further, wrapping them both around his waist, pushing his cock into her tight pussy. She threw her head back and let out a moan and he used this opportunity to kiss along her freshly exposed neck. She rolled her hips into his and rocked with his thrusts.

"Felix," she breathed, arching herself off the bed only to be pushed back down by Felix.

"Say it again," he responded, breathily kissing her jaw and pinning her arms above her head again.

"Felix," she moaned louder.

"Atta girl," he groaned, thrusting into her harder and faster. "Fuck, Diana," he rocked as hard as he could and she moaned out loudly, wrapping her legs around his waist tighter.

It wasn't long before her muscles were clamping around his member and he was moaning as much as she was. Her legs stated to shake again and she came hard. Felix followed along beside her, thrusting and helping her ride out her orgasm before finishing himself.

"Holy shit," he breathed, dropping down beside her and releasing her wrists.

"That's was something else," she sighed, resting her head on his chest.

"You're telling me," he responded, stroking her hair.

* * *

"So, what are your plans for the day?" Felix asked as they ate lunch, having missed breakfast with all their early morning activities.

"Well I have a few thing to take care of, why?" She responded, not sure what to tell him. She was still trying to find the owner of the voice she'd heard a few months back. She knew it was him, she knew it, but she'd only heard him. She hadn't seen him and couldn't find him.

"Well I was going to go train and I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to be on your own," he replied, looking at her as if he was wondering what she was up to. "So long a you've got something to do, though.."

"Datatransfer," she lied. "I never actually got around to moving the files from my old uniform to me new armour, it's an older model so it will probably take a while."

"Oh, well good luck," he replied, seemingly accepting her answer.

"Maybe if you're still going when I'm done I'll come tease you," she joked, poking her tongue out at him.

"You better," he laughed.

She felt bad letting herself get so close to Felix, she really did love him and part of her even wanted to stay, but she had obligations. Felix was a means to her escape and that was all he could ever be. She felt bad for getting close to Tucker and then jumping into bed with Felix, he'd hopefully understand if he ever saw her again.

She had to figure out what it was that got North killed, find the man from her past, and escape the ship. Once she'd laid her past to rest she was sure, wherever in the skies she went, she could find peace. Perhaps it was selfish to only care about her own future, but she'd been through so much, she just couldn't think about anything else.

* * *

 **"Newbie distress beacon went online again,"** Church said as he scanned through more data files.

"What?" Wash asked as Tucker leapt from his seat and ran over to the console.

 **"Yep, it went offline a few weeks ago but it's back online now,"** Church replied, still flicking through the files he'd copied from Newbie's helmet.

"So we can find her?" Tucker asked hopefully.

"That's right," Carolina agreed, perching on the console. "I knew we'd find her," she smiled.

 **"So, looks like North was on to something pretty big when he died, I mean why else would he use so many encryption codes. He's got even more the deeper you go. Without Newbie it's going to be tough to crack though,"** Church said once Tucker had gone back to his spot on the other side of the room.

"But you can do it, right?" Carolina returned.

 **"I can try,"** Church responded.

"What's this?" Wash asked, becoming more interested than he had the entire time they'd been on the ship.

"North's data is super encrypted, and without Hampshire here it's going to be tough to crack," Carolina explained.

"Let me see," Wash said, looking at the password lengths and thinking about his friend.

* * *

Diana walked the length of the ship in her new armour, looking down every corridor she didn't know in a desperate attempt to try and learn the structure by heart. She walked with purpose, hoping that a confident stride would keep anyone from questioning her clearance, if she required any. A one woman manhunt over the entire ship to find and hopefully murder someone who she was pretty sure was the Sleeveless Soldier was madness, but, when you'd been through as much as she had you could afford to be a little nutty.

"Newbie old chap," Wyoming called from behind her and she turned to the figure dressed in white.

"What?" She replied bluntly, still not entirely forgiving him for all the crap he pulled.

"Could ask you what you'r doing down here," he started. "But we both know you'll either come up with a terrible lie or fight me, so we might as well just skip all that."

"I heard his voice, a month ago. I'd know that voice anywhere, it's him. I'm sure of it." She replied honestly.

"North?" Wyoming asked, cocking his head in confusion.

"What? No I meant the soldier who tortured me and got away. He's not getting away with it this time," She growled.

"Right," he nodded, breathing slightly easier.

"Why did you think I meant North?" She asked, taking a step towards him.

"No reason," He replied shortly, taking an equal sized step back.

"Bullshit," she snarled. "You're just as bad a liar as I am."

"Well uh," he stuttered a she stepped closer to him. "It's just that.."

"Just what?!" She demanded.

"Well with all your flashbacks and talking to yourself in the medibay earlier, well you've been acting a little.." he paused. "Delusional."

It wasn't so much that what he said was untrue, because she had been acting quite.. off. But just the way he said it made her believe all he said was a lie. Maybe it was because after everything they'd been through he always proved to be untrustworthy. Maybe it was because she knew she wasn't the first girl he'd taken from those that loved her. Maybe it was because Wyoming was selfish and spineless. Or maybe he was right and she didn't want to believe it.

However right he was, she was not going to let him deter her from her mission. She was going to hunt down her captor, she was going to find North's killer and she was going to put a stop to whatever it was he was chasing.

"Wyoming, either you help me or you get out of my way," Diana said finally. He stared at her for a moment, seemingly weighing up his options.

"If I was looking for someone, I'd search records. Find a match, find a soldier," He replied and wandered off. Typical Wyoming. Be just helpful enough to save his own skin but not really help you at all.

She shook her head and walked down the hallway, thinking about what he'd said. If she was going to find any kind of records she would have to have help. She wouldn't know where to start when it came to finding them and even if she did, she was only good at cracking North's encryption codes. She was no computed and didn't have an AI. She'd have to get someone in the know.

And suddenly, she knew exactly where to go.

* * *

"Hey baby, decided to come along after all," Felix grinned at her as he boxed an extra strong dummy.

"It was never a question of if, more of when," she smiled back and wrapped her arms around his back as his hands snaked around his waist.

"Mmm, least I know I've got you then," he chuckled and kissed her softly.

"And where are you taking me," she hummed.

"Wherever you want to go," he kissed her forehead.

Felix had grown somewhat of an attachment to his latest target. It seemed she'd gotten her hooks into him as he did her. And he couldn't help but wonder, she really did seem familiar. Even if he couldn't place her.

"You know, you really do look familiar," Diana said, as if reading his mind.

"I can't place where though," he responded.

"Hmm," she thought carefully. "What'd you do before this?"

"Mercenary work as usual, but before that I did some time in the war as a soldier," he responded honestly.

"Which one," she almost laughed. "We've seen so many."

"You're right," he agreed. "But, if you were a soldier and you come from a long line it's entirely possible we just crossed paths briefly."

"True," she agreed. "They say the human brain subconsciously remembers every face, because we can't create them ourselves. Which is why when you dream you can see strangers, people you don't remember ever seeing before. Maybe I just remember your face," she explained away.

"Maybe, it's a good face to remember," he joked, making her laugh.

"You're awful," she shook her head and leaned on his slightly sweaty chest.

"No, I was awful," he argued. "Then I met you."

"You old sap," she giggled and kissed him gently but with passion.

"You love me," he replied, running his hand through her ponytail.

"I really do," she agreed.

* * *

 _"I could get used to this," Newbie hummed, laying next to her toned boyfriend._

 ** _"You should, I'll always be here," North replied._**

 _"Good, because I'm here to stay," Felix smiled down at her and kissed her head._

 _"I love you, you know," she told him._

 ** _"I love you with all my heart," North smiled, holing her tightly in her arms._**

 _"I know you do, I love you to the stars and back," Felix smiled. "Wherever in the skies you go, I'll always be here to bring you home."_

* * *

Diana sat up with a start. Looking at her the sleeping man next to her. She breathed heavily, heart racing in her chest. She knew she was moving on, North would be happy, but she wasn't expecting the two loves, the two lives to meld together. Everything Felix said seemed to be almost exactly as she'd heard before. But it was impossible for him to know what North had said before him. There was no record. He couldn't have.

"Hey," Felix sat up, looking her over with concern. "What's the matter, you have a nightmare?" He asked, reaching out for her.

"Not exactly, it was weird, but not a nightmare," she explained, hesitating about coming towards his outstretched arms.

"You sure, you're really shaken up about it," he asked, looking very genuine. "Come here," he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her temple.

"Felix, I," she started.

"Shh," he cut her off, stroking her hair. "Calm down first. I love you, you're here, you're safe. Talk when you're ready, when you want to, if you want to. Until then, lay with me. You're here, you're safe."

"I love you," she responded quietly, relaxing in his arms. He knew all the right things to say, she wanted so badly to be with him, to let him be her forever. She could feel herself getting better with him. She wanted to latch on. But she couldn't tell if he was genuine, she couldn't tell if she could every be fully genuine. She was using him, he was her tool, she couldn't forget that. She couldn't fall fully in love with him, even if she destroyed him.

She had to.


	3. Ch 3

**Authors note:**

 **If you guys need a song to describe Felix and Newbie/Diana's love from her perspective 'Don't Deserve You' by Plumb covers it pretty well. The question is, does Felix feel similarly? Does he actually love her or is she just a toy for him to play with, someone for him to use? Tough question.**

* * *

 _Diana opened the door to her shared apartment with her father and looked around. She'd heard the doorbell ring, surely ding dong ditching was a thing of the past, here, there weren't even any other people her age in the building. Looking down, she saw a bouquet of orange and yellow roses accompanied with some purple flowers she didn't really know the name of, some green stuff and some chrysanthemums. She bent down and picked up the flowers wrapped in purple and orange ribbon and looked at the card inside._

 ** _'_ _Condolences sweet rose, your loss fills the air with sorrow for as long as you weep. May you find happiness and cherish only fond memories of the ones who have gone, for you are not alone and you never will be.'_**

The card read, Felix knew this because he had written it. He didn't know why he felt the need to offer such condolences, or put so much effort into the message he'd left. He didn't know why he'd spent so much on the flowers or why he'd put so much effort into finding the perfect ones. But he knew now, just why Diana looked so familiar to him. He'd known her, in what was almost another life. He'd barely known Javier, and already forgotten him by the time of his death, and he knew his child even less.

Felix wondered if the fates had anything to do with this, and why. He wondered why he had run into her again after all these years and why she was his target, why he had to play her. He knew she'd been through a lot and unlike with anyone else, he actually cared about her feelings, just a little bit. Sure, he didn't love her like he repeatedly said he did, he thought, but there was something there. Something too inexplicable to miss but too indescribable to know what it was.

Perhaps he'd written what he had because he knew she'd just lost the only family she'd ever known, she'd lost her best friend. Perhaps he'd felt sorry for her, perhaps pity. Perhaps Felix knew even then, that there was something different about this girl.

"Hey," Diana breathed, looking up at him from her spot leaning against his bare chest.

"Hey," he responded, not really there.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, rubbing her tired eyes and paying him more attention than he was probably worth.

"No, I'm fine," he replied, which was probably a lie, but he didn't really know what was wrong if something was.

"I don't believe you," she said honestly. "But, take your time. You don't have to tell me what's up, but if you want to, when you're ready you can tell me anything. You've been my rock since I got here, it's about time I leant an ear."

"You don't have to return the favour, Diana, I do it because I love you not because I want you to owe me," Felix stroked her hair. Although, he thought, having something on her, having her owe him something would be useful. Sure, he was working on getting her devoted enough that she would do anything for him, all that he asked, but a little insurance never hurt anyone.

"I know, but it's because I love you that I want to be here for you too. Relationships are about give and take. I've got you, whenever you need," she kissed his cheek, holding him in a gentle embrace.

"I know," he breathed, going back to his thoughts.

* * *

"You seem better," Diana commented, holding Felix's hand in hers as they ate breakfast together at their usual table.

"I could say the same about you," he retorted, referencing her state of unease the previous night.

"My weird dreams aside, whatever kept you up, is it going to keep you up again tonight?" She asked, concern in her big, blue eyes.

"I don't want you to get the wrong idea," he started.

"But," she continued for him.

"But," he sighed. "I think I need some time on my own, and stay by myself tonight."

"Felix I'm not going to get the wrong idea. You need space and that's okay. We can't spend every waking hour in each other's company as well as squishing up against each other at night and not expect to hit some bumps in the road. People need space, they need alone time. That's not wrong. Take all the time you need, I know you'd respect my space if I needed the same," Diana replied.

"Thanks," he ran a hand through his hair.

"Don't mention it, I'm pretty sure I should water my plants anyway, you know, before they die tragically from dehydration," she joked.

* * *

"How is your project going?" Hargrove asked, looking at Felix from his chair. "Will she help us?"

"I'm almost certain she will help us, and I'm close to getting her to do it unconditionally," Felix replied.

"Excellent," Hargrove responded.

"I do have one question, though," Felix said, looking down at his boss.

"What is it?" Hargrove asked impatiently.

"What do you know of Javier Martinez's death?" Felix asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer and if asking was even a good idea.

"Well I had him taken out of course, he served me no purpose and he would have only gotten in the way of my plans," Hargrove explained. "You're not thinking of telling the girl, are you?"

"No, it was more a question of personal," he paused. "Curiosity."

"Well you know what they say about the cat, Felix," Hargrove warned.

* * *

 _"Siris, what brings you here?" The hispanic looking man in his late thirties, early forties asked when he opened the door to the apartment they were standing outside._

 _"Javier, we've got a job, it would mean a lot if we could have your help," Siris replied as Felix and Locus stood behind him._

 _"Who are your friends?" Javier asked, closing the door slightly behind him. "You know my situation."_

Briefly, Felix wondered exactly what that situation was. Was he on the run? Illegal? A criminal that could fetch a big price?

 _"I know, you have my word they will be no trouble, I trust them," Mason gestured to Felix and Locus behind him. "The skinny guy is Felix and the tall guy is Locus."_

 _Javier nodded and allowed them inside, directing them to the dining room table. He sat down at the side of the table closest to the rest of the house while Sirus took the head of the table next to him. It was up to Locus and Felix to sit to the right of Siris on the same side. Much to their annoyance._

 _"Pray tell, what is this job?" Javier asked, leaning an elbow on the table, fairly relaxed._

 _"A bounty hunt, one of the bigger ones," Siris replied._

 _"You always do the bigger ones, what makes this one so special you need my help?" Javier asked, it was true Siris always took the large jobs with his team while Javier took more of the smaller, manageable jobs._

 _"Look if you don't want the money, we can always find someone else," Felix butted in, growing annoyed._

 _"Quiet Felix, the big boys are taking," Siris responded, making Felix more annoyed._

 _"We do need some extra hands Javier, I'd rather have someone I trust working my six," Siris explained. "Felix and Locus will be taking care of the infantry, you'll be accompanying me on the recon side of things."_

 _At that moment a door opened at the other side of the apartment, making Felix and Locus look up. Javier and Siris on the other hand, didn't seem to notice or at all bothered by the sudden interruption. A slender, blonde girl stalked into the kitchen just by them and pulled open the fridge._

 _"Ahh, we have life," Javier said as he looked over to the kitchen._

 _"Look, I'm sorry about before, okay?" She sighed, seeming as much annoyed as she was remorseful. She slammed the fridge door shut with a Tupperware container in hand and went over to a drawer to pull out a spoon. She turned on her heel and went to walk away but was stopped by Javier._

 _"Oh no you don't," he said. She spun back around and looked at the men sitting at the table. Felix thought she looked stunning, even when she was pissed off, especially when she was pissed off. Although she looked to be on the wrong side of legal._

 _"What now?" She asked, folding her arms._

 _"Are you seriously going to just eat that container of potato salad?" He quirked a brow, looking amused. It made Felix raise an eyebrow too. She sighed._

 _"Not now I'm not." She muttered putting the potato salad back in the fridge and raking around for something else to eat._

 _"There's left overs in the oven." He commented after a while of her searching._

 _"You couldn't have mentioned that earlier?" She growled in frustration and slammed the fridge door again, going to the oven to take the now hot plate covered in food out. Felix watched her in amusement the entire time, whereas Locus just seemed annoyed. She went to go back to the room she'd been in earlier again but was stopped again by Javier's insistence there would be no food in the bedrooms._

 _The thought of her sitting cross legged on the bench top, hunched over her food while they talked about business didn't sit right with Felix, and when he looked at Locus he seemed to disapprove just as much. Siris and Javier didn't pay her any mind and that almost angered Felix. How could they be so reckless? Especially considering that was a topic Siris was always lecturing him on._

* * *

"Babe?" Felix stood outside Diana's quarters, knocking on the door, head hanging low. "It's me," he said quietly.

"Hey," she breathed when she got to the door. "What's up?"

"Uh I," he started and she ushered him inside with a soft smile. "I wanted, I figured we could chat," he explained.

"What about?" She asked, pushing him down onto the bed and perching at the head end, sitting cross legged and holding a pillow in her lap.

"Well I've been thinking a lot about what you said earlier, about how we looked familiar to each other and what not," He replied.

"Yeah?" She smiled encouragingly.

"Well, you remember a guy named Siris?" Felix asked, moving a leg onto the bed beside him as he turned to face her.

"You mean Mason Wu?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Yeah, I worked with him," Felix confirmed.

"Oh, yeah he worked with my father a lot, they served together. That's probably how we know each other. I've been kicking myself trying to figure it out," she went on. "Small world."

"Yeah," he replied.

"Is that really what you wanted to talk about?" She asked intuitively.

"Well not really," he responded. "I've just been thinking about you all day. About how I even thought you were beautiful back then," he crawled up the bed towards her and then lay beside her, one arm behind his head.

"Oh shut up," she blushed. "Actually, I think I remember you better now," she told him.

"Oh yeah?" He asked.

"Yeah, I came back from a party one night, I wasn't supposed to have gone but I did anyway and ran into you and Siris. You said I looked like a model on the car ride home," she blushed again as she told the story.

"I remember that night," Felix smiled. "And earlier, when I first saw you and you told your father about that guy you hit," he laughed.

"Oh yeah, I hit him so hard he broke both his nose and his coccyx," she laughed.

"He give you any more trouble after that?" Felix asked, playing with her hair a little, knowing it soothed her. He did it for two reasons now, one because he had to get close to her, and now it was because he really did want to provide her with comfort.

"Oh yeah, he was pretty pissed," she confirmed. "Big macho guys like that don't really like it when they get beat up by a girl," she explained. "Especially Wyoming. He once used live rounds on the training field to beat Tex this girl on our team because she had this crazy strength, ended up almost killing one of our other team mates and York nearly lost his eye."

"Oh yeah?" Felix asked, interested in what she had to say about their shared teammate.

"Yeah," she nodded. "He often did that, that's how I got this scar, I wasn't even armoured when he used them that time." She pointed to a scar on her neck. "Turns out it was the Director always supplying him with them," she looked down sadly.

"What?" Felix asked. "This Director is some unorthodox bastard."

"You're telling me," Newbie agreed. "First time it was because he wanted to test out the new recruit. With me, well, he just never took to me."

"Why's that?" Felix asked.

"I remind him of his wife's infidelity," she replied honestly. "His wife was going to run away with my father after the war but she died a little while after I was born. The Director found out and ditched me," she snuggled in closer to him.

"Yeah, I think I remember you saying something about that," Felix responded. "That guy missed out on an awesome girl. You're fantastic and he's an idiot for ever getting rid of you," he reassured her.

"Hmm," she nodded, resting her head on his chest. "I love you," she said after a while.

"I love you too," he returned, only this time, he was pretty sure he meant it.


	4. Ch 4

Diana lay with her head on her lover's chest, just listening to the soft, rhythmic beating of his heart. She breathed easily as he ran his hands through her stick straight, long, blonde hair. She was content to lie there with him and let the world go by them for a while but her mind was plagued by her earlier predicament.

"Felix," she said softly.

"Yeah?" He asked, looking down at her.

"How do you feel about revenge?" She asked, thinking of her mission and how it would effect the two of them.

"Asking the deep questions, huh?" Felix down at her as he huffed out a deep breath. "I guess it really depends on the situation."

"If you had the chance, if someone had wronged you, and you had the chance to destroy them, would you?" She asked, propping herself up on her elbow.

"I never used to believe in it. I used to think if I just kept doing the right thing and being a good person then karma would do her work and take care of whoever had wronged me without me having to do anything. But I was wrong, karma seems to skip certain people and it's up to us, to exact her will. I try to be the nice guy, but sometimes, there's something really satisfying about sticking the knife in, yourself," Felix explained. "If the opportunity came for me to take down someone who'd wronged me, if it was easy, if it was fun, I'd do it. I'd destroy them. And if they ever tried to hurt you, death wouldn't be good enough."

"I used to believe there were good people and bad people in the world but if I waited long enough, good would prevail. I used to believe that, but the more wrongs I had to do to make the world good again, the amount of wrongs done to me, I changed my mind," Diana replied.

"What brought this up?" Felix asked, playing with a lock of her hair.

"A little while ago while we were sitting in the mess hall, I heard this voice and I recognised it instantly. I've been thinking about nothing but revenge ever since. I tried to find him today but a one woman manhunt across the ship was kind of a dumb plan. I was just hoping to hear him again, and then I'd find him and kill him," she explained, somewhat sinisterly.

"Who's voice did you here?" Felix asked curiously, ears pricking up.

"The one who held me hostage in the insurrectionist base for all that time. I don't know his name but I swore vengeance as soon as I got out of there, and I'm going to kill him. I'm going to find him and kill him," she replied.

"Well, you're not going to be able to do it the way you have been," Felix sighed. "What you need is a plan."

"I thought maybe if I could get the records of soldiers in the insurrectionists and those currently on the ship I could compare the two, but getting access to that would be incredibly difficult," she started but Felix cut her off.

"That's not an awful idea but it would take a lot, you be better off checking the old files on insurrectionist prisoners and find out who was in charge of your case," Felix explained, thinking things over.

"How would I even go about getting those?" She asked, biting her lip.

"I don't know," Felix sighed. "I'll look into it, but I'm not sure if there's much I can do."

"Wait, you want to help me?" Diana asked, getting exactly what she wanted.

"Yeah, of course. Your fight is my fight. I'll always have your back," Felix responded, having finally found something to hold over her.

"I love you, you know that, right?" Diana asked, trying to reassure herself as much as him.

"I know you do," he replied, leaning down to kiss her as he propped himself up over the top of her. She kissed him back and he pulled her thigh up to his hip, lowering his hips to hers and rolling them against her. She reached up to him and knotted her fingers in his hair, almost guiding him as he came down to kiss along her partially exposed stomach.

He pulled away from her momentarily as he slid her shirt up and over her head, cupping her breasts and rubbing his thumbs over the soft cups of her bra before removing it as well. His mouth went to her ample breasts and she let out a moan, bringing her other leg up to his waist. She moved her hands down from his bare chest and tugged at his sweatpants, sliding them over his ass and giving it a squeeze, one of her favourite things to do.

He smiled as he sucked one of her nipples, massaging the other with his hand, almost chuckling at her cheeky, ass squeezing. He slid further down the bed and kissed and licked a trail down her abdomen, nipping at the flesh in certain places, tugging off her panties as he went. He lifted her legs over his shoulders and moved down to worship at her temple, licking and sucking her most precious spot. He inserted a finger and she gasped, the feeling something she still wasn't used to, but now only associated with Felix.

He moved to her mouth after she came, her juices still fresh on his lips as he kissed her, the taste of herself making her moan at the kinky thrill. Her legs were still over his shoulders and pressed to his chest, again, impressing him with her flexibility. He bit her lip, lightly, so's not to scare her, and she moaned into his mouth. She gripped the hair at the nape of his neck and kissed him back with ferocity.

"Felix," she gasped as she broke their kiss for precious air.

"Yeah babe?" He smiled at her, leaning down to press her legs further back.

"Fuck me," she said with uncharacteristic bedroom confidence.

"What?" He asked surprised.

"Fuck me already," she replied with as much confidence as she had just spoke with.

"Your wish is my command, _darling_ ," he purred, lining himself up.

"Ugh~" she cried out when he slammed into her. His repetitive and vigorous thrusting motion kept her crying out, her legs dropping off of his shoulders and moving to wrap around his torso, ankles knotting on his upper back, just shy of his flexing shoulder-blades. She arched up off the bed towards him and pressed her chest to his as she tightly gripped the bedsheets. He propped himself up on the bed with one hand as he moved a hand down to work her clit, circling the sensitive nub.

She sat up more and slightly lowered her legs as he lifted his arm up from the bed and wrapped it tightly around her, pressing her naked body tightly to his own. She still had her fingers knotted in his hair as he kissed along her neck and chest, steering clear of her mouth so he could easily hear her sexy, little moans. Her legs started to shake as she came closer to reaching her second climax of the experience and he worked her breasts in his mouth as his thrusts continued. They were never sloppy but you could tell he was close from the look on his face and the sounds coming from his mouth.

"I love you," Diana gasped out, o-face happening, and coming hard onto his member. He loudly cried out a few moments after, finishing inside of her. He thrust a few more times and continued to work her clit as they rode out their orgasms together.

"I love you," Felix breathed as he pulled out, laying her on the bed and pulling back from her slightly. He dropped to the bed beside her after a few moments, body coated in a thin layer of sweat. He'd decided, now, that he definitely did love her, mission or not. It wasn't the sex high talking, he was sure she was his favourite toy.

* * *

"Morning," Felix breathed, smiling at his lover playing with a lock of her blonde hair. His warm brown eyes scanned over her golden, glowing face as she lazily glanced up at him, yawning cutely.

"Hey baby," she smiled, breathing lightly as she lay on his chest.

"What do you want to do today, huh?" He smiled, rolling her hair around in his light grasp.

"Well, I had things I wanted to do today, but the idea of staying in bed with you all day is much more appetising," she replied, smiling and coming up to kiss his lips.

"Mmmm, if I was in bed with a handsome man like me, I wouldn't want to get up either," he chuckled.

"Such a modest, humble man too," She hummed in response.


	5. Ch 5

"We should probably get up, you know, before we miss breakfast again," Diana sighed against Felix's chest.

"Mmmm," he hummed, not really agreeing. She sat up and looked into his eyes, absentmindedly tracing patterns on his chest with her fingers.

"Or we cold continue to lay here together for the rest of the day," she jokingly suggested, although the idea did seem nice.

"Now, see, that's a much better offer," he laughed. "We really should get up though. I have a meeting to go to now we're getting closer to Chorus. Not long now before I have to go back and I want to be prepared," he explained and she nodded.

"It's been nice just pretending we don't have any real responsibilities for a while," she replied, running her fingers lightly over his ribs. "I suppose the calm couldn't last forever though," she mused.

"What were you doing before you came aboard anyway?" He pried, only mildly interested. But intrigued as to how she'd been lured to the facility they'd trapped her in.

"I guess there's no harm in telling you," she said aloud, and boy was she wrong. "My fried lied to me about some of my friends from Project Freelancer being dead. So after an argument with him I found out another one of my friend's girlfriend had gone missing and the last people she'd been seen with were the friends that I thought were dead, so I went to go and find out what the hell was going on. While I was looking for her I found some stuff about my ex. He didn't just die on the battlefield like I'd thought, he'd been looking for me. He knew I wasn't really dead like the Director had said and was trying to find me and while he was searching he uncovered something that got him killed," she explained.

"And you thought it was a good idea to try and chase the same thing?" Felix asked sounding unimpressed.

"Well I honestly didn't care what happened to me, I was trying to put him to rest," she replied.

"I suppose that's a good answer," Felix hummed. "I can't say I'd be too willing to let go if you died," he pondered for effect.

"Aww," Diana replied, kissing his chest lightly before sitting up. "Alright, I'm going to go and train a little before I shower."

"I'll see you when you get back," he kissed her as she climbed over him and moved to get dressed.

* * *

Diana slammed her fists into the punching back she was standing in front of. She thought about what she was going to do once she had means to an escape. She hadn't been through the files Church had given her from North, so she didn't exactly know where to go next. She could try and find Carolina and Tucker again, but she had no idea where they'd be and if they'd done as she'd hoped, they'd be following her distress beacon she'd activated once she'd got power back into her old armour. So even if she could escape, would it be better to stay and wait to be rescued?

She certainly didn't feel in as much danger as she had been last time she'd been captured and held against her will. Also they'd let her out to go shopping and get home comforts, but she still didn't know if that was a test or not. It most likely was, she thought, she had every opportunity to run, even if she didn't have armour, she still could have gotten out of there. They put her there on purpose to see what she'd do. She hoped she'd just passed the test enough to gain some trust, just incase she needed to escape or cover her back in the future.

Newbie wasn't build for covert, double agent missions. She was much more made for the find and kill missions. The stress of all the background work, the planning, it was all a bit much. It was times like this, she missed her friends, she actually damned missed project Freelancer, even if it was a hellish nightmare where her technical stepfather kept trying to murder her and a robot/AI version of her deceased mother kept getting into a rivalry with her half sister who was actually her daughter. It was complicated, but she was with her friends at least. She missed them.

She moved on to practising kicks more. Before giving up completely and heading back to Felix's bedroom to lay down and sulk. Of course she wanted to talk to him about her problems, but how do you talk to the person you're using to gain intel and escape that you're having trouble managing to keep up with the plot to actually use him and escape?

Diana wondered if this was a crazy plan, if she should just let North go, like he would have wanted. She had Felix now, she loved him and he loved her. She could start a new life at his side, she'd already started doing it. But she had to find that guy first, if he was in fact on the ship, she had to kill him. She knew Felix would have her back on it, he said that he would. But she wondered just what would happen if she did manage to find and kill him.

* * *

"You're dressed awfully nice for a ship filled full of soldiers and mercenaries. What's the occasion?' Felix commented, after coming out of the shower, towel loosely hanging around his hips. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressing a kiss to her neck while she applied some blush to her made up face.

"Hmm?" He pried when she didn't answer.

"Well, I'm going to head out to grab some food and make a lot of new friends," she started. "In a couple of days, there won't be a person on this ship who doesn't know who I am. I'm making myself known. While you get your hands on those mission reports," she explained.

"Being bait is a dangerous game," Felix started, pulling on some pants. "You really wanna get close to this guy, after what he did to you? You're not worried he'll do it again?"

"No," she replied and turned to him as he pulled on his shirt. "Maybe a little, but I'm gonna kill him before he ever gets the chance. I'm going to make him pay," Diana slipped her hands under his shirt, tracing her fingertips over his ribs, abs and v-lines.

"You know I've always got your back right?" Felix replied, bringing his lips to her forehead.

"I know, and you know I'll do anything for you," she confirmed.

"I know," he replied, thinking after this she wouldn't have much choice.

* * *

"Ah, Felix, here for your mission report?" Hargrove asked, looking upon his subject, pleased.

"Yeah, I've found a way to get one over on her as insurance. I just need one thing," he replied, standing confidently in front of his superior.

"Excellent, name it," Hargrove was pleased, soon, all his ducks would be in a row. Nice and ready to shoot.

"I need to get my hands on some old Insurrectionist Mission Reports," Felix explained. "Namely, the ones that discuss the kidnapping of Agent New Hampshire, throw in some from Project Freelancer as well."

"Why do you need those, pray tell?" Hargrove placed his hands together in front of him, only the tips of his fingers touching.

"She's vengeful, if I help her exact her revenge then I have something more than concrete to hold over her. When we're done, there will be nowhere for her to run and only us to hide behind. She'll have to work by our side. And the best part? She won't even know she has to, she still thinks I love her," that would of course be because it's true, but Felix wasn't required to play his whole hand. And his affection would be a closely guarded secret that he would not entrust with anyone.

"Excellent, I'll transfer you the files at once. Don't let me down, Felix," Hargrove responded, dismissing him.

* * *

"Now I'm sure I don't know you, I know I'd remember meeting a girl as pretty as you," one of the soldiers told her, southern drawl rolling out of his mouth, hand loosely hovering near her hip.

"Must have been a dream then," she replied, twirling some hair around her finger.

"Now who do we have here?" Another, fiercer sounding soldier asked, coming up behind her.

"You can call me Diana," she introduced, shaking his hand, her fingers lingering by his hardened skin.

"Nice to meet you, sweetie," the fiercer one replied.

* * *

"How'd things go?" Felix asked as Diana walked into the room.

"I met many people I didn't care a thing about," she replied. "I pretended to, though. How about you?" Diana asked as she pulled her shirt up over her head and slipped off her jeans, moving to slip inside the bed beside Felix, who was sitting up in bed wearing only his boxers.

"It was difficult, but I managed to get the reports. I think Locus might have gotten a little suspicious but I don't think he knows anything," he lied and she nodded, believing every word. "You remember much about him from when you were a kid?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Even less than I remember about you. He was big, he was quiet and he was usually glaring at me," she responded honestly.

"So basically nothing has changed," Felix laughed. "So, do I get browny points for bagging some old and very classified Project Freelancer reports on the same things?"

"You what?" She asked, eyebrows shooting off her forehead. "Felix you're a miracle worker."

"Oh I know," he laughed. "Come 'ere, give us some sugar," he said, pulling her closer for a kiss and running a large hand down her back to rest on her ass.

"I love you, you know that right?" He asked as she kissed him passionately.

"Of course I do!" She held his face him her small hands. "And you know I'd do anything for you, I love you Felix."

"I know you would," he replied.

He rolled them over and kissed a trail down her neck, running his hands up her sides. He kissed over her breasts and down her stomach head traveling down a path he was creating to her warm, wet centre. He parted her thighs and worked his head between them, nipping lightly at the flesh of her thighs. He kissed her mound before angling his head down and trailing his tongue expertly up her slit.

"Shit," she hissed as he worked her in a way only he knew how.

He chuckled slightly as she writhed under his touch and he pinned her to the bed by her hips. He worked his pace faster and she whined and moaned, knowing full well what was coming but was powerless to stop it. He spelled out I love you, I own you, with his tongue as he worked her towards orgasm. Her whole body was on fire as he spelled out the alphabet on her clit, fingers pumping in and out of her core.

"Oh my god! Felix!" She cried, gripping his hair while a hot white heat flushing over her in waves.

He worked her through like usual and then came up to meet her mouth, kissing her softly, gently and running his clean hand through her hair. He pulled her close as he slipped in and he kissed him back with ferocity. She gripped at the soft skin of his back, marking it lightly with her nails. He groaned into her mouth and brought a hand up to grip her ass cheek as he thrust into her, rocking to a familiar beat.

"Uuuh," she moaned out, her head dropping back. Felix used this opportunity to kiss and nip up her neck and across her throat. "Huuuh."

"You like that?" He almost growled.

"God," she panted. "Yes Felix, yes, oh god yes."

"Good," he replied smugly and sped up, thrusting harder and making her legs shake.

"Baby," she whined as he groaned, rocking into her slightly rougher.

"Diana," he groaned out as he grew closer his release, gripping her close to his body. He snaked a hand between them and started rubbing circles on her clots he got even closer to finishing, himself. Her legs shook and she cried out, coming hard on his cock. He grunted and shuddered, releasing into her and holding her tight.


	6. Ch 6

"So," Felix asked as he watched her from where she was sitting in her underwear, holoboard in her lap that was covered by the blankets, cross legged and flicking through old files. "Any progress?"

"Nothing yet," Diana replied. "I've been able to narrow things down, cross off the guy I killed and knock off a couple the guys I met in the mess hall. I also managed to cross off the holder of these dog tags. But otherwise, this ship holds a lot of transfers from the Insurrectionists, it's hard to tell from what I've gone through which one is the one we're looking for. I have to go through the files from the actual, uh, questioning, if I want to find anything out."

"But it's hard for you to do that," Felix stated and she nodded. This whole ordeal, the more he heard about it made him angry. Diana was his, how dare anyone even think that they could hurt her, before or after the fact he'd started fucking her. She was his and no one was allowed to hurt her. He wanted to kill this guy himself, if he found him first, before she did, he just might.

"I've made a lot of progress, I've come a long way, that has a lot to do with you as well Felix, I want to make sure I don't undo everything," she explained and this time he nodded.

"Let me do it," he suggested. "If it's me, you don't ever have to go through it, I'll read through it and help you find him."

"I don't want to put you through that," she said. "With North, it damned nearly killed him to see it, to find me. To help me through the hospital, I wouldn't want to do that to you."

"I don't want to lose you to this, to him," Felix replied. "Let me help you."

"Okay," she whispered with a nod after thinking about what he said for a few moments. She slowly handed over the files and he took them from her, leaning towards her and kissing her on the forehead before going back to his spot and beginning his search. He flicked through the files, getting more railed up as he read, seeing exactly what _his_ girl had been through.

* * *

"Have you recovered?" Locus asked her as she stood next to him while waiting for Hargrove to tell them why they'd all gathered.

"More or less," Diana replied. "Probably won't be participating in the olympic hammer throw anytime soon, but I can fight."

"Excellent," she heard Hargrove say and she looked up quickly. "Then you'll be ready for the upcoming recovery mission."

"Recovering what exactly?" She asked.

"I'm glad you asked, Martinez," he said and then a holomap of the building she presumed she'd have to infiltrate popped up. "We're retrieving some UNSC material that was stolen and is currently residing in the wrong hands."

"And who's hands are we putting it into?" She asked and he turned back to her.

"Ours of course," he replied. "The UNSC wants us to take care of the civil war on Chorus, if we're taking care of their problems, they'll take care of us."

"Right," she nodded, suspicious of his answer but not about to start asking too many questions when she was considering this man orchestrated the death of at least one of her parents. "What are we, _liberating_?"

"Armour enhancements mostly, our men will deal with moving them onto the ship. You and Locus here, will be in charge of infiltrating the building, opening the doors for our armies to get in and then going on your seperate mission. Retrieval of this key."

She had to hold in a gasp when a very familiar looking flash drive popped up on the holoscreen.

 _"This is what you will be looking for agents, " the Director showed the Freelancer agents in the room a holographic projection of what looked like a flash drive. "This is the key, it could change the war."_

 _"Really?" New Hampshire asked. "Really? 'Cause that just looks like a USB stick to me."_

 _"No. This, is the key. This is cutting edge technology that will give us intel on the enemy and how to win this damn war," the Director replied patriotically._

 _"Nope, it's just a USB stick," Newbie snapped back in a manor of fact statement._

 _"New Hampshire, shut your poisonous mouth before I have Agent South Dakota shut it for you." Newbie's face dropped in shock before she began scowling across the briefing table at the Director._

 _"Now we'll have a team of four agents go in stealthily and recover the artifact..."_

 _"Oh it's 'The Artifact' now, thought it was 'The USB stick' posing as an object used to open doors," Newbie snarled._

"What do we do once we've got it?" She asked, increasingly nervous about the upcoming mission.

"Now, this is the part that's very important," Hargrove stated. "Only you, Locus and Felix know about this key. Only You and Locus will be going on this mission and you are to talk about it with no one else. It's completely black ops."

"Great," she grumbled under her breath. "Alright, is there anything we should know about? Out of the ordinary security? Excessive guards in certain areas?"

"I'm sure you'll be more than equipped to handle the situation. You have the latest armour and access to all of the ships's weapons are at your disposal. You are dismissed," he brushed her off and she thought it was also weird and suspicious but decided to just head back to her quarters. She walked back through the corridors of the ship and thought about how Felix was right, it did get easier overtime. She was now able to navigate through most of the ship without assistance, which meant, a little more guidance from Felix, she'd be ready when the time came to track down and fight her attacker from all those years ago.

"How'd your meeting with Hargrove go?" Felix asked as soon as she stepped through the door. He was sat in jeans and a t-shirt sitting cross legged on the bed and going through he files again.

"So," she started, going over to her desk drawer and pulling out a packet of feed and water optimiser to add to her watering can. She ripped the packet open and poured it in, moving over to the bathroom door. "I know this mission is black ops, so I'm not going totally about it, but I do have a question, and since you're in on the whole don't ask don't tell kind of thing, I figure it's safe to ask without getting murdered."

She said walking into the bathroom and filling up her watering can with the ships recycled and processed water before coming back to start watering her space plants.

"Hmm?" Felix asked in response.

"How often is what we're going to be doing here going to be black ops?" She asked. "I know why, I get it believe me. Sometimes you gotta make a lotta enemies to do the right thing, blah blah, you don't win wars with niceness and all that BS. And I don't necessarily have a problem with it, I mean I come from Project Freelancer, we weren't exactly what we thought we'd be. I just want to know what I'm walking into."

"Right," he nodded. Smarter than he originally thought. "We do do a few black ops missions from time to time. There's always bad fruit in the bunch, it's less criminal, more, we know there's leaks, we just can't catch them all and we don't want our private intel getting into the hands of the enemy." He covered quickly.

"Right," she nodded. "It's just," she sighed. "I trust you, of course I do, I'll stand with you wherever we go. I just, Hargrove, he makes me feel so uncomfortable. There's just something _off_ about him. I keep feeling like everything I walk into on his orders is going to be a trap. I don't know, maybe it's too much time served under the Director."

"Yeah," Felix agreed, uncrossing his legs and putting the holoboard down. "You're probably right, I mean, I've been working with him for a while and I haven't been murdered."

"I'd be worried if you had," she joked. "Considering we're talking."

"Hah ha ha, very funny," he rolled his eyes. "Anything else bothering you?"

"I'm worried about this mission," she replied honestly. "How much can I tell you? Hargrove told me it's black ops and you were aware of the mission but like, how much do you know?"

"I know everything, I was supposed to go too but Hargrove wanted you to go instead, test out his new mercenary before the big stuff," he justified. "You're getting paid for all this by the way," he added in. "So you can tell me anything."

"Something about this mission seems off," she replied. "I've never seen this building before or anything, but I," she started.

"What?" He asked, coming over and snaking his arms around her, resting his hands on her hips and kissing her forehead. "You can tell me."

"I've seen the key before," she replied. "I was ranked eighth on the Leaderboard for a while back at the project, and, well, I was kind of being a jerk when we were getting our first mission briefings. I had some issues I brought to work with me because I was just a dumb kid. Anyway, it was my job to train one of the new Agents being brought in to work on this mission. Mostly because I was such an asshole the Director didn't want me going. We stole it, I think, I mean, we called it a retrieval mission but I doubt everything the Director had us do now."

"And you're worried Hargrove is also having you steal it?" Felix asked and she shook her head.

"No," she sighed. "I'm worried about what's on it, a little, I'm mostly worried about who's building we're about to walk into. I'm extremely anxious I'm about to walk into a Project Freelancer building. And if I do, what if I find something I don't want to find?"

"You'll be okay," he kissed her forehead again. "Stick with Locus, don't talk to Wyoming or Maine about this, you're safer not letting them in on this. I mean, not only did they both kind of kidnap you and bring you here, they both went rogue and work for a price. What's to say they don't use what you tell them against you or something? I don't want you in danger."

"I will," she nodded and he could very well be right about Wyoming and Maine, they also allegedly stole Grif's girlfriend but she hadn't seen or heard anything about this Corporal Bentley. "They weren't fully trustworthy when I was on the same side, I'm not exactly going to trust them when they were the ones who shot me."

"Good," he pulled her close, stroking her hair. "I want you coming back from this mission safe."

Felix wondered what New Hampshire would do if she knew he was the one who shot her in the back while the firefight was going on. If she knew it was his voice making those announcements and he and Locus that got her and the two idiots in white out of there. Initially he'd just been team back up, incase Wyoming fucked up and boy did he. It was lucky he was there or else Hargrove would have been pissed.


	7. Ch 7

"Be careful out there today," Felix said as he stroked her hair while she lay next to him in her bed and he stared at her glowing pot plants.

"I will," she replied and kissed his peck, nuzzling her head into his chest.

"I mean it," he said a little more emotionally. "Come back to me."

He knew what she fought like when she was distracted with flashbacks and memories. He did not want the fact this was a Project Freelancer building she was going into and the fact she was suspecting it to throw her off and get herself killed. He also didn't want the revenge plot they were planning to distract her from her mission today. There was also a small part of him that knew, if she was going to escape, now would be a pretty good shot. She had armour this time, she was on a black ops project that meant she'd be away from the rest of the soldiers, no one would even know she was there. All she would have to do is slip away from Locus, and he couldn't have that. She was his now, he wouldn't let her leave him.

"I will," she looked up him, locking eyes with him. "I promise I'll come back to you today. I love you, I'm coming back."

"I love you too," he kissed her crown again. "Make sure you're careful though," he pleaded but tried to sound casual.

"Jesus Felix, I haven't died yet, after everything I've been through. I'm sure I can handle smuggling a USB Stick back to base," she shook her head and kissed him on the lips. "Stop worrying."

"Can't help it," he mumbled and she kissed his cheek, ducking her head into his neck.

"Hey," she whispered, hot breath meeting his skin. "Let's make a deal."

"Oh?" He smirked. "What kind of deal?"

"I come back safe within a day, without a single splinter, scratch, etc. or I owe you a blowjob," she whispered and and he grinned.

"That is a very good deal," he hummed. "But what do I get if you come back safe?"

"Me," she laughed and he smiled, peppering kissed over her face.

He rolled the two of them over, moving on to deeper kisses on the lips. He kissed down her neck and was just getting into things when a loud knock sounder on her door. He groaned loudly when he heard a familiar voice ordering Diana out of her room.

"Sorry Locus," she called wiggling out from under him. "I'll be out in a minute, I'm just putting on the last bits of my armour," she lied and he shook his head.

She quickly pulled on under armour on over the top of her underwear and then started hurriedly fixing the armour plates to her body. She had to say, she really kind of liked the black and purple look. She ran back over to her bed to kiss him one last time before she pulled on her helmet and rushed out the door, leaving him to his own devices.

* * *

"Have you found something to your liking?" Locus asked as she wandered around the armoury looking for weapons. She shrugged and went for her usual MA58 Assault Rifle and a thigh/hip holster full of knives. There was a phrase, there's always a bullet out there with your name on it, Diana felt a lot safer if she knew she was carrying the knife with her name on it.

She grabbed a handgun and strapped it to her other thigh and made sure to stock up on ammunition. She didn't know what kind of firefight she'd be walking into, but she wanted to be at least a little prepared. She grabbed a couple of medifoam vials as well, just to be safe, she had promised Felix she'd come back alive.

She marched alongside Locus to the ship she and Locus would be taking to the base the other soldiers were currently en route to. She couldn't help but feel nervous around a the hulking figure, something she never felt around Maine. It stuck her as odd, that Felix had told her to say away from them but not Locus, better the devil you know she always thought, but maybe Felix thought the same, he did know Locus much more than she did.

"You're quiet," Locus said after an hour into their journey.

"Wouldn't think that would bother you," Diana replied and cheered inside her head at her retort.

"Ordinarily," he started. "I would relish in the silence," he put the ship on auto pilot. "But you aren't the silent type."

"To your knowledge," she responded. "We've only just met."

He didn't press any further, whether that was because he wasn't a talker or something more sinister was up for debate.

* * *

The ship landed on the planet just a few hours after takeoff and Diana watched Locus order about the foot soldiers while she scanned the surrounding area. She never realised how much she missed the comfort of her team. How much she missed the leaderboard members, even Virginia whom she initially hated.

Diana looked around the reasonably sheltered, glowing forest around her. She wished Tex, who she'd just found out was actually her robot mother, was here, watching her back. She looked back at the ship wishing she had 479r sitting in the pilots seat ready for evac. She wished she was walking in towards the back of the building alongside Wash while he chatted on about something stupid. She wished when Locus bent down to start on the lock, it was York, her best friend, her older brother. He had been there for her from the very start, he could have been her brother, had he ever gone through with asking Carolina to marry him like he'd spoken to her about when they were out on missions together.

She missed her sister, not that she knew they were related long. Carolina had a plan for everything, even spur of the moment changes in plans, she was ready. And most of all she missed North. He was able to walk her through anything, from up in his vantage point, sniper rifle at the ready.

"You take the west side, I'll take the east," Locus ordered as the walked along the corridors. "Stay on your comms."

"Understood," she nodded once in affirmation.

She wandered the halls, looking for the Key they'd been hired to steal years ago, she had wondered where it went. What the director used it for. What he'd wanted it to be used for. She wondered if Church had found her distress signal. She wondered if she shouldn't bother trying to escape once she'd killed her attacker. Just sit and wait to be found. Seems she was always needing rescued.


End file.
